Health Concerns Key to Ending Dolphin Slaughter

Oscar-Winning Director of 'The Cove' on Campaign to End Controversial Hunts

Excerpt: The Cove director Louie Psihoyos discusses the recent SeaWorld tragedy, and similarities between his film and Avatar, at Asia Society, March 9, 2010. (2 min., 15 sec.)

Oscar-Winning Director of 'The Cove' on Campaign to End Controversial Hunts

NEW YORK, March 9, 2010 – Louie Psihoyos, director of the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove,says increasing awareness about health risks associated with eating dolphin meat is key to ending the slaughter of the intelligent marine mammals.

While the The Cove tells an animal rights story about the
treatment of dolphins, Psihoyos emphasized the human health
implications of the practice during a discussion at the Asia Society
with New York Times science reporter Andrew Revkin, just two days after
the film's Academy Award win for Best Feature Length Documentary.

"I don’t think we are going to win this
issue in Japan on an animal rights issue…we are going to win
it on the humanitarian reasons," Psihoyos said. "It is a crime against
humanity when people are serving poison as food. The provisional limit [of mercury]
is 0.4 parts per million; dolphin meat has anywhere from 5 to 5000 times more mercury
than allowed by Japanese law."

The Cove uncovers a hidden dolphin hunt along the remote coast
of Taiji, Japan that results in the death of up to 23,000 dolphins
annually. Fueled by the demands of a multi-billion dollar dolphin
entertainment industry, potential show dolphins are selected from the
corralled herd while those left behind are slaughtered and sold for
their meat. Due to the dolphin’s position at the top of the oceanic
food chain, the resulting meat—often covertly mislabeled—is
contaminated with highly toxic levels of mercury.

Psihoyos shared an anecdote about sitting next to a senior Japanese
Fisheries Agency official on a 10-hour flight to an International
Whaling Commission meeting. Psihoyos showed him footage from the film,
and asked how he felt being in charge of the 5000 tons of toxic dolphin
meat served around Japan every year. Psihoyos reported that the
official’s response was, "I am in charge of food security, not food
safety."

Much has been written about The Cove being an eco-thriller or an environmental Ocean’s Eleven,
but Revkin noted that it was the quiet moments that most affected him. "To me, one of the most powerful moments was the fireside discussion of
these guys [the Taiji fisherman] quietly remembering when the sea was
thick with blue whales and sperm whales."

On ending the slaughter in Taiji, Psihoyos reflected how sad it is that "the only way we can save their lives now is to prove that we have made
their environment so toxic that we shouldn't be eating them." On his
goals for the film, he said: "I wanted this film to inspire a legion of
activists, not just on dolphin and whale issues, but on environmental
issues."

Responding to those that suggest the film is culturally insensitive,
Psihoyos stated, "Just look at the film. This isn't an indictment
against the Japanese people. We want to give them the information that
they don’t have readily available."

Connect

Asia Society takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with any government. All views expressed in its publications and on its website are the sole responsibility of the author or authors.